Blogs from Puno, Puno, Peru, South America - page 12

¡Hola! I am writing this without the benefits of my notes, so please forgive me if I have to add stuff later. Day 8 we got up and had breakfast at the hotel (in the place that I can't remember the actual name of) including some coca tea (once you get into the highlands, coca leaves are pretty much set at the tables in the hotels like salt and pepper). We hopped back on the bus with George and Erica, and headed back through Chivay, where we dropped Erica off. We travelled for about 5 hours, through the highlands. We watched two movies, and I slept the rest of the way to Puno. I did look out the window a few times, but it was pretty much the same as before, lots of hilly, rocky, barren ... read more

Today it’s time to say goodbye to Bolivia and cross the quiet, dusty border crossing into Peru. At the border crossing we are asked to get off the bus and cross on foot. We have to visit the immigration office to get our passports stamped. The sleepiest thing about this border crossing is the immigration officer. Unbeknown to us at the time he has set his stamp up with 2007 instead of 2008. Luckily Lou, our guide, spotted it a couple of days later and was able to have all our visa stamps corrected. If she hadn’t done, we would have all faced hefty fines when we tried to leave Peru. Outside the immigration office a group of young boys provide help in filling out the immigration forms in exchange for a handful of small coins ... read more

Puno... read more

Chegamos em Puno pela noite, umas 9 da noite. Passamos pela imigraçao da Bolivia para saída e do Peru para entrada, pegamos depois da fronteira um onibus bom. Dentro do próprio onibus fechamos o hostal, as excursoes para ilhas de los Uros e Ilhas Taquile e as passagens para Cuzco com um cara cheio dos rolos, ja era tarde e nao queriamos procurar albergue, alem disso 25 soles para cada um com banheiro dentro do quarto era razoável. Fiquei bastante desconfiada, tava na cara que o cara era roleiro, mas topei, o preco tava razoavel ele deu um descontinho... e fechei ja comecando a rezar pro cara nao me passar a perna. Chegamos no Hostal e nao tinha nem placa, era bem estilo clandestinho, mas no geral era excelente, banho caliente e camas boas, nao precisavamos ... read more

Titi for Peru and Caca for Bolivia Another border crossing, another passport stamp, another country and yet another currency to get our heads around! Like Copacabana, Puno lies on the shores of Lake Titicaca. But there the similarities end. Puno is a far bigger city, which doesn't depend so much on the tourist dollar, yet, perhaps paradoxically feels like more of a tourist trap. During the bus trip from Copacabana a representative from the company started trying to entice us and everyone else to stay in a company owned hostel in Puno. They offered a free transfer from the bus terminal so we thought why not. About 10 passengers got off in Puno while the rest continued to Cusco. Nearly all 10 of us went to this hostel, where we negotiated a room for 35 Soles ... read more